Accel World: Stage 0
by Master of The Wild Card
Summary: Takes place slightly before and during the timeline of the anime/manga. Yu Kurosaki was your normal middle school student, having just transferred to Umesato Junior High, he's considered the newbie. But that all, and Yu's entire world, changed when he met a mysterious and ever-so-popular girl by the name of Megumi Takeba, who draws him into a whole new world ruled by speed...
1. Chapter 1

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 1 – A New Start**

…

_**Alright, so I'm guessing that most of you are starting to get irritated by how many stories I've been busting out lately, but I was feeling UBER creative this morning, so I just had to write this.**_

_**That's all I have to say sooo… On with the disclaimer!**_

_**I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc.**_

I stood in front of the doors of Umesato Junior High's second year classroom, shaking my head to clear out the last shred of nervousness that clung to me. I heard the teacher speak up from inside, signaling me to come in and introduce myself. I opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door behind me, I walked to the front of the class and just stood there, still trying to get over my nervousness.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Introduce yourself." The woman said kindly. "No need to be nervous."

"Right. Uh… I'm Yu Kurosaki… Nice to meet you all…" I said nervously. I tried to think of anything else to say. "I l-look forward to the time I'll be spending with you all." No, dammit! That wasn't quite what I was thinking! The rest of the students, mainly the girls, giggled at my nervousness.

"Well, I suppose that you can sit… right there in front of Takeba." The woman said. She gestured to an empty seat in front of a girl my age wearing the schools uniform for the girls with some majorly long blond hair (like waist-length) and piercing green eyes. I walked over and placed my stuff down beside me before sitting down. The girl known as Takeba (though that was probably her surname) leaned forward and whispered so the teacher wouldn't hear.

"Hey, my name's Megumi Takeba, I hope you enjoy it here." She said. I gave a nod to quietly say 'right, thanks'. The both of us then turned around and paid attention to the lecture.

I suppose I should take this time to explain what's going on. As I said earlier, my name's Yu Kurosaki, I'm currently a second-year student in Junior High. And as you can tell by my earlier introduction, I'm not very good at things like that. Though this is because I've only transferred schools in my first year of Junior High, and now (didn't really like the school from my first year near the end), so I guess you could say I'm not really used to it yet. I quickly began to open the notes app on my Neurolinker and started jotting down stuff that the teacher was saying. This was a history class, so I doubt I really need them (I'm a wiz at this stuff, so I'll ace this class for sure), but hey, you never know.

Okay, getting a bit off track. As for what I look like, I'm not too special. Red hair that I like to keep in a messy style, blue eyes, and a mostly athletic build, in case you're wondering. As far as talents go, I'm, once again, not that special. The only thing I have going for me is my smarts, I guess, since I scored pretty high on the entrance exam. Anyways, like I said, as class started moving along, I started paying more attention to the lecture until I suddenly realized that class was over. As the teacher left for her next class, we all stood up for a break. Megumi had went to talk with some others whom I assumed were her friends, while a male student with short and neat-looking orange hair and brown eyes walked up to me with a friendly smile.

"S'up dude." He said. "The name's Yusuke Matsui, nice to meet ya'."

"Hey." I replied. "Yu Kurosaki, same to you." He and I bumped fists like we were sealing a deal.

"Now I have one thing to say to you, man." Yusuke said. "You are seriously lucky."

"Lucky? What do you mean?" I asked confusedly.

"You get to sit right in front of Megumi Takeba is what I mean." Yusuke replied excitedly. "She's one of the most popular girls in this school, she only comes second to Kuroyukihime." He gestured towards a girl near the back with long black hair. I can see what he means, that's all I have to say. "So you're pretty lucky as it is, man."

"Thanks, I guess." I replied. A few minutes later, class started back up, and before I knew it, lunchtime had rolled around. After I got to the lunchroom, I found a seat by myself (I've never really been one to eat with others on a regular basis) and took out the lunch I had brought with me (I see it as being easier than buying lunch). After I finished eating, I had some time to kill, so I decided to have some fun and connect to the net. "Direct Link." After I mumbled those words, I found myself in an old-style Japanese town, now in the appearance of my virtual avatar. Which for those of you who are curious, it's a white and gold-armored swordsman, in essence.

I made my way to a large dojo that houses a sword combo game inside, the goal of which is to rack up a huge combo before time runs out. After a few minutes, I had managed to get into the top three scores. As I stood there catching my breath, I felt like I was being watched. I turned around to find that there was nother avatar there dressed in a white and red priestess outfit, as soon as I saw the face, I jumped back in surprise.

"Huh? Takeba-san?" I asked as she walked further into the dojo.

"I just saw you get that great score, and I have to say, I'm impressed." She said. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone wield a sword like that kind of skill."

"W-well, I do some kendo training in my spare time. I'm not that special, though." I replied. Megumi shook her head.

"Actually, that was pretty special, in fact…" Megumi trailed off as she paused, probably thinking something over before continuing. "Tell you what, what if I told you that there was a way to turn that skill of yours into even greater skill?"

"Even g-greater skill…?" I repeated confusedly. "What does that mean?"

"If you want to know more, then why not have lunch with me in the school lounge tomorrow?" Megumi offered. Considering what Yusuke told me, I wasn't about to pass this up.

"Sure, why not." I answered. Megumi nodded in response and began to walk off. After that, I decided I'd had enough for today. "Link out." Upon uttering the command, I found myself back in the lunchroom. I proceeded to head back to class, and before I knew it, the day had ended and I was headed back home.

…

The next day, I walked into homeroom, only to be grabbed by Yusuke and pulled over to a corner of the classroom.

"Okay, spill it. Give me ALL the details." He said excitedly, like a kid in a candy store.

"First of all, let me go, and second of all, what are you talking about?" I said as the orange-haired boy did as asked and released me from his grip.

"I mean when Takeba asked you to have lunch with her today." Yusuke pressed. "What happened? When?"

"Yesterday, on the net, and it wasn't anything special." I replied.

"Nothing special?" Yusuke repeated in surprise. "Dude, it's your second day here, and you're already having lunch with the second most popular girl in the school. That's everything but 'nothing special'. This should be a record."

"Alright, alright. Calm down." I said. "Look, if it's that important to you, I'll tell you about it after lunch."

"Sweet." The orange-haired boy said with a thumbs-up. Well, as fate would have it, lunch came pretty quickly after that. After I entered the lunchroom, I made my way over to a small door-sized archway that led to the lounge, a private place for the second-year and above students. As I stepped through, I began to hear whispers and mumbles as people stared at me in interest. Things like 'Isn't that the new guy?', and 'What's he doing here?' were caught within my range of hearing.

"Hey, over here!" I heard a voice call out to my left. I looked in that direction to see Megumi waving me over. I reluctantly began walking over towards her and took the seat across from her. I began to hear some louder, more surprised murmurs from the other second and third-year students about how they were shocked to see that I was sitting with the second most popular girl in school.

I also noticed that some distance away, the girl that people normally call Kuroyukihime was looking over at us as well, though it seemed to be more directed at Megumi, a look of interest and what appeared to be intense thought on her face. I paid it no mind as I suddenly saw Megumi producing something from her bag… What the!? A cable!? Is she serious? That's what rushed through my head as the blond-haired girl held one end of the cable out to me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." I said, trying to buy time for something, though I didn't really know what. "Are you seriously saying that you want to Link with me? I just met you and all. It's just…"

"I know exactly what you mean." Megumi interjected. "I'm the same way, but this is for a reason. This conversation _has_ to be private, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this." Is what she's going to tell me that big of a deal that she would do a cable link with me just to keep it a secret? I looked around and saw that everyone else was staring at us, waiting for me to either reject the cable, or take it and hook it to my Neurolinker. Reluctantly, I took one end of the cable and hooked into the port of my Neurolinker, while Megumi did the same with hers. Immediately, I could feel the direct link starting up and I noticed that Megumi was making many quick hand gestures, indicating that she might be looking for something in her Neurolinker.

"**So um… Why exactly did you want me to come here?"** I asked. **"Not that I have a problem with it, but I'm just curious."**

"**Like I said yesterday, what if I told you that there was a way to make that skill of yours even greater? A way to make that into power beyond what you imagined?"** Megumi replied as she swiped her finger towards me, indicating that she was sending something to me. My suspicion was confirmed once I received an installation option for a file named 'BB2039setup'. **"You can do just that with this program that I've sent you. But I have to warn you, once you accept this gift, you won't be able to live in the world you know now. This will… destroy your perception of the world."** I almost jumped back in surprise. Destroy my perception of the world, huh? In order to accept this 'gift', as she puts it, and gain power, I have to let my world be destroyed…

"**I'll do it."** I replied. The blond seemed surprised by my answer, judging from her reaction. **"I'll accept your gift and gain this power you keep talking about."** I pressed the button to download the program. As the download began, everything around me was instantly engulfed in blazing flames for a brief second. Once the world returned to normal, I saw that there was now a progress bar in front of me. I mentally sighed as the download finished. Then, a message appeared in front of me in burning letters.

"'**Welcome to the Accelerated World'…?"** I read. **"What is this?"**

"**The program you just installed is called Brain Burst. With this, you'll gain incredible power."** Megumi explained. **"Though I think it'll be better if I showed you. I want you to say the following command with me. When I say now, we'll both say 'Burst Link', got it?" **I nodded in understanding. "Okay…now!"

"Burst Link!" we both said aloud at once. Immediately, I felt a strange rush through my body and I saw the world around me just outright freeze in place while turning blue. Not only that, but I was also looking at myself. Looking at my current body, I noticed that I was in my virtual avatar body and Megumi was in hers as well.

"Huh? What is this?" I wondered aloud. "Did we…just stop time?"

"Not exactly." Megumi spoke up from her place to my left. "We've simply Accelerated."

"Accelerated?" I repeated.

"Yeah. Acceleration is the most basic command a Burst Linker can use." Megumi explained. "Each Acceleration costs one Burst Point to use. Right now, our brains have sped up by one-thousand times their normal speed, allowing us to take all the time we need to make even split-second decisions." I just stood there listening in awe.

"So, um… What else can you do with Brain Burst?" I inquired. Megumi just giggled one of the cutest giggles I've ever heard in response.

"That'll have to wait until tomorrow." She replied. "The program still has to finish up… a few things."

"What kind of 'things'?" I pressed, not too sure about how she said that.

"Like I said, it'll all become clearer tomorrow." Megumi explained. "But there are some things you should know. First, do not, under any circumstances, log onto the Global Net until tomorrow at lunch. Second… Don't be surprised if you have a weird dream tonight." This confused me even more, but I guess she'll explain that later too. "Okay, now to deactivate Brain Burst, just say 'Burst Out', got it?" I nodded.

"Burst out!" we both said. In an instant, we were back in the normal lunchroom where everything was moving as it should. Megumi and I just sat and ate after that and walked back to class. For the rest of the day, it was pretty much normal, aside from Yusuke bugging me about the details of my lunch with Megumi, along with a bunch of other guys. So I just told them that she just wanted to welcome me to the school and that was that. Though I have a feeling that the whole thing about cable linking with her will get out soon…

_**Alright, there's the first chapter in a nutshell! If you thought it was too short, then don't worry, because they won't all be like that. Next chapter, we'll be seeing Yu's first Duel in the Accelerated World, so it should get interesting.**_

_**Laterz!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 2 – Duel**

…

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc.**_

_**I do, however, own the OC's that appear in this story.**_

Once I got home that afternoon, I looked around the house, with no soul around other than me, which meant that mom hadn't gotten home yet. I just went straight to my room and plopped down on my bed. I had made sure to heed Megumi's warning and disconnected myself from the Global Net before I could even so much as step off the school grounds, so there was no need to worry about that. I wasn't really feeling hungry that night, so I just studied for a bit and then went to bed.

…

When I woke up the next morning, I felt kind of weird. I didn't feel sick or anything like that, but I felt like I had a weird dream last night. Although, I didn't pay it any mind, since Megumi had told me to expect that. After I got ready for the day and had breakfast, I decided to head off to school. Once I got there, I was surprised to see Megumi waiting for me by the gate.

"Good morning." She greeted.

"Hey, good morning." I greeted back.

"So, did you have any strange dreams last night?" Megumi inquired.

"Yeah, it feels like it, but I can't remember what it was…" I replied.

"Like I said, that's to be expected. Anyways, I've contacted a friend of mine in the Accelerated World, and she's agreed to duel you today to break you in." Megumi added.

"Duel? Break me in?" I wondered aloud. "Does that mean that Brain Burst is some kind of fighting game?"

"Exactly, though there's more to it." Megumi added.

"Well, if this is a fighting game, then I'm definitely in." I said, starting to actually feel pumped.

"So you play video games, then?" the blond asked in what seemed to be genuine interest.

"Yeah, but mainly RPG's and fighting games." I replied with a shrug. Megumi let out a small giggle.

"Then I have a feeling that you'll definitely enjoy Brain Burst." She replied. "Just meet me in the lounge again at lunch today. Same place as yesterday." I nodded in agreement. After that, we both headed off to class. Though given my level of intelligence, it seemed to fly by pretty quickly. Once lunch rolled around, I got stopped once again by the ever-so-enthusiastic Yusuke, apparently, my suspicion was correct, and the whole cable linking thing had gotten around, and not only that, but SOMEHOW somebody found out that Megumi and I were having lunch together again today. Geez! Where do these people get their info!?

I eventually settled on the story that Megumi (though I wasn't stupid enough to use her first name) wanted to know what I thought of the school so far and then immediately walked off to avoid further questioning. After I made it to the cafeteria, I walked into the lounge, more confident this time, and surprisingly, with less comment from the other students present. I found the table Megumi was at and sat across from her again.

"Alright, so are you ready for your first duel?" Megumi asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I just don't know what to expect." I replied.

"Don't worry, this first duel will only be to help you get used to fighting, and I'll be sticking with you to help you whenever you need it." Megumi replied with a friendly smile.

"Right… So whenever you're ready, I guess." I added. Megumi nodded.

"Burst Link!" we both said at once. The world immediately stopped and took on the familiar bluish hue that I saw yesterday when I first Accelerated. Looking down at myself, I was once again in my virtual avatar body while Megumi was also in hers.

"Okay, so now that Brain Burst is installed, you should see a new icon to your left. Select it and you should see a list of players." Megumi informed. I looked to my left and confirmed that there was in fact a new icon in my menu, a jagged-looking 'B'. I pressed the icon and a small list appeared in front of me.

"Right, now what?" I asked.

"You should see three players at the top of the list, these are the players currently logged on, and can be dueled in the school net." Megumi explained.

"Yeah, I see three names… Lead Synergist, Crimson Goddess, and Lavender Striker." I read the names out. Megumi nodded in understanding.

"Crimson Goddess is my Duel Avatar, and Lavender Striker is the name of your opponent." Megumi explained.

"So that means that I'm Lead Synergist." I concluded. "So what now?"

"Now you select your name, which is Lead Synergist, and Lavender Striker, and then hit the Duel button above you." Megumi explained. "I'll queue in to spectate." I nodded and did as asked, selecting my name and Lavender Striker's before hitting the button hanging from two chains above my head that read 'DUEL'. Once I did, the scenery around us changed entirely, no longer resembling a school, but rather we were now standing within what appeared to be a ruined temple. Though upon closer inspection, I realized that the entire temple was actually floating in the sky above a massive expanse of plains.

"Whoa…" I managed to get out despite all the awe I was in. Once more, Megumi giggled.

"If this weren't a tutorial battle for you, you'd be dead by now." She informed me. I quickly snapped out of my amazement and hastily nodded. "This is one of my favorite stages, actually. The Sky Ruins stage is what it's called…" Getting a better look at Megumi now, I noticed that her appearance had changed. She still had the appearance of her virtual avatar, but there was one major difference; her skin and clothing was now more metallic and crimson in color, almost like armor, while her eyes were still blue and her hair was the same crimson red as her boy.

Then looking at myself, I noticed that I had changed too. While Megumi had a more natural appearance, I was comprised entirely of metal, wearing bluish-white colored armor that looked like a combination of that of a typical knight and a samurai. I could feel a pair of sheaths strapped to my back that housed a pair of silver-colored katana with black handles. A knight's helm was also placed on my head, and judging from a reflection of myself on my arm that showed my face under the helm, my skin was evidently greyish-white and I had teal eyes.

"Interesting, I didn't expect you to be a Metal-Type. Burst Linkers like that are actually pretty rare." Megumi complimented. "I guess that we're waiting for Lavender to arrive, so the match won't start until she gets here. So I'll quickly go over a few things with you." Megumi then pulled up a screen that showed what appeared to be a color wheel with a bar of different colors below it. "First is your Type. I already mentioned that your Type is Metal. This means that you're a good physical attacker, you have an increased defense against physical attacks, and you have a resistance or weakness to certain effects as well."

"Makes sense, I guess." I replied. Megumi dismissed the chart.

"You're lead, so you're not only strong against physical attacks, but you're also resistant to things like Poison and Radiation effects." Megumi added. "Your color also determines your available attacks. If you choose your name from the player list, you should be able to see what moves you have." I did just that and saw a small list of skills under my name.

"Hmmm… There's not a whole lot here. It says I know three normal moves; Power Slash, Cross Slash, and Blitz." I read out.

"Do you have any Special Moves?" the crimson girl asked.

"Yeah, there's one here called Brave Blade." I replied. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's the basics." Megumi added. Suddenly, I saw a single sentence written in burning letters floating in front of me that said 'Here comes a new challenger!'. "I guess that means Lavender is here then."

"So, you're the newbie that Crimson told me about?" asked a voice from behind us. We turned around to see a girl our age made of lavender metal who resembled a ninja, judging by her metallic outfit.

"Y'know, normally people greet their friends by saying 'hi'." Megumi said, somewhat annoyed. Lavender didn't seem to pay this any mind. "And yes, this is Lead Synergist, a new Burst Linker I recruited." Lavender Striker began to eye me over, as if to size me up.

"Well, he gets my respect for being a Metal Type, but I gotta' see if he's any good." Lavender finally said. Suddenly, a timer showing 1800 seconds on it appeared above me and the word 'FIGHT' appeared in burning letters. "Okay newbie, come at me with your best shot!" I nodded and decided to use one of my moves.

"Power Slash!" I called out. I ran forward towards Lavender and un sheathed one of my swords. As I got near her, I leapt into the air and proceeded to bring the blade downwards. Lavender seemed to be surprised by my speed (and I don't blame her, since I was too), since she barely managed to block at the last second and slid back a bit, though as I looked at her health bar in the upper right corner, I saw that it still went down a considerable amount, leaving her with one-eighth of her health missing.

"Huh, well if you're attacks are that strong, then I guess it makes sense that you're color is lead." Lavender complimented.

"Thanks, I think." I replied.

"Trust me, Lavender is hard to impress, so if you got a compliment like that from her, then that's a definite achievement." Megumi chimed in.

"Yeah, so now I know that I can hold back only a little." Lavender added as she readied the tech-enhanced bow she carried, an arrow materializing in it perfectly. "Impact Arrow!" Upon calling out her attack, the arrow she fired was consumed by an aura of purple energy. Since I didn't have enough time to react properly, I got hit dead on by the arrow, getting sent back a few feet and having a considerable amount of my health drained.

"Gah! That really hurt!" I groaned as I got up from the ground.

"So, you ready to fight for real now?" Lavender asked. "Or at least until the timer runs out." I nodded in response.

"Yeah, I think so." I replied. Suddenly, without warning, I charged forward at her again. "Cross Slash!" As I called out the second of my three moves, I began to run slightly faster as Lavender started to fire multiple arrows at me in an attempt to stop my attack. I simply sidestepped and dodged the shots and eventually reached the purple metal ninja. I dashed right past her with my first sword out and trailing behind me, slashing her in the side. I then jumped upwards back towards my opponent and took out my other blade and brought both down on Lavender, reducing her health considerably.

"Okay, now we're talking." Lavender said.

"Blitz!" I called out my third normal move and spun with my two swords outstretched, creating a brief whirlwind that knocked Lavender back a bit. Lavender got up slowly and smirked.

"Okay then, looks like I won't have to hold back at all." She said as she ran forward and attempted to strike me with her bow, using it as a melee weapon. I managed to parry it and both of us ran towards the other and clashed in the center. We both tried to hit the other with our weapons. Me with my katana, and Lavender with her bow. After a minute or so, the lavender ninja jumped back after hitting me with a decent string of attacks and smirked (well, if she had a mouth, I'm sure she would be smirking).

"What's so amusing?" I asked.

"Looks like I can use my Special Move now." Lavender said, still retaining her smirk as she aimed her bow skyward and conjured a glowing purple arrow within it. "Myriad Arrows!" She fired the bow skyward and the arrow shot into the heavens. But as soon as I saw a small flash of light, I knew that it was bad news. I quickly leaped out of the way just as a barraging rain of arrows came down where I just was. But one of the arrows grazed my shoulder, taking away that much more of my health and leaving me with hardly any. I looked at my health bar and noticed that my Special Move was charged up too thanks to the earlier clash. "Aw crap, I forgot how quick he was!"

"Looks like it's my turn." I chimed in. Lavender looked to her upper left to see what I meant and gasped when she saw my Special Gauge. I got a running start and made a huge leap forward as I called out my Special Move. "Brave Blade!" As soon as I did, my katana started to give off a brilliant white light. Once I reached Lavender, I swung my twin weapons out in an 'X' pattern, sending Lavender flying back from the blow and getting rid of nearly all her health. I then jumped into action once more, quickly reaching my opponent and delivering one final, strong slash to her chest as she got up, draining her health completely. Lavender got back up and offered her hand.

"Good job out there, Lead Synergist." She complimented. "Not that many people can get the better of me like that, especially newbies. Heh, on the bright side, since you're at a lower level than me, I didn't lose too many points."

"Thanks, you too. You almost had me there for a second." I returned the compliment and shook her hand. Lavender Striker nodded and began to walk off.

"See you later Crimson, keep me up to date, alright?" Lavender called back before disappearing in a stream of data. Megumi nodded in response, then turned to me.

"Well done, that was a good fight. You seemed to adapt pretty quickly." My classmate complimented. "I'm definitely surprised by your strength, and you're only Level 1. I have a feeling that you'll become a strong Burst Linker one day."

"Thanks, but I still have a lot to learn." I replied, a slight warmth creeping up on my cheeks.

"Well, that should do it for today." Megumi said. "Over the next few days, we'll work on getting your Burst Points up to a safe level for when you get to Level 2."

"How exactly do Burst Points work?" I asked, still not sure what they were.

"Burst Points are the reason that we fight." Megumi stated. "Each Acceleration costs one Burst Point to use, and as long as you have points, you can continue to use the power Brain Burst gives you. You can also use Burst Points to get Level-Up bonuses."

"What happens if you lose all your points?" I wondered aloud.

"If… If you lose all your Burst Points, then…" Megumi began. "You lose Brain Burst forever, and any memories that you have of it are erased too. Once you lose it, you can never reinstall it, and you forget about ever having it. It really is sad when you think about it…"

"Wow…" I said.

"Yeah, and that's why Burst Linkers fight. We fight to keep using the power of Acceleration." My classmate replied. "So, shall we go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready when you are." I answered.

"Burst Out." We both said. Immediately, we were back in the real world, and even though it felt like five minutes should have passed, everything was like when I first Accelerated. After that little escapade, Megumi and I just talked about normal school things, and the day seemed to once again go by pretty quickly. After I got home, I just studied and fixed myself some dinner before going to bed, since I was still exhausted from my first duel. Oddly enough, as I started to fall asleep, I sterted to think about what Megumi had told me earlier that day.

"_If… If you lose all your Burst Points, then… You lose Brain Burst forever, and any memories that you have of it are erased too. Once you lose it, you can never reinstall it, and you forget about ever having it. It really is sad when you think about it…"_

"I wonder… Did something happen to Megumi…? The way she had said it…" I wondered aloud. I started to think about this less and less as I drifted off into sleep, but I still couldn't help but wonder…

_**And that concludes chapter 2. Starting next chapter, we'll be entering into the first real story arc, similar to the first 5 episodes of the anime, but with a personal touch added. If you guys have any ideas for OC's I could use, then leave an idea in a review or PM me. As far as the character goes, just fill out this template,**_

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**How they know about the Accel World: **

**How long they've had Brain Burst: **

**Duel Avatar Name:**

**Level:**

******Avatar Color/Type:**

**Main Weapon:**

**Normal Moves: **

**Special Moves: **

**Enhanced Armaments (optional): **

_**So like I said, any ideas would be welcome. So for now, I'll see you guys later!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 3 – Mission**

…

_**Hey there guys, Master of The Wild Card here for chapter 3 of Accel world: Stage 0. So starting in this chapter, we'll be heading into the first major story arc. And for the record, by this point in the story, Haru has gotten Brain Burst, and by the end of this small little arc, Haru will have already gotten his wings as Silver Crow. Just thought I'd clear that up. Also, I've changed the name of Yu's Avatar slightly, so now he's Lead Synergist instead of Steel Synergist. Also, a fair warning to you all: This chapter will most likely be mostly talking, so it may not be the most exciting thing for you all. However, this is mainly to setup for the rest of the arc.**_

_**Sooo…**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc.**_

_**I do, however, own the OC's that appear in this story.**_

I leapt into the air and barely dodged a strike from a katar before landing a few feet away. After that, my opponent tried to charge and hit me again. This time I was ready as I called out the name of my next attack.

"Blitz!" I called out, I immediately spun with my blades outstretched, creating a brief whirlwind around me. But it was enough to catch my opponent off guard and send them flying back, interrupting their attack. I quickly took action and managed to close the gap between us before delivering the final blow. "Power Slash!" upon command, I delivered a single, powerful strike with one of my swords, depleting my opponent's health to zero. The person I had just beaten, a Duel Avatar by the name of Ocean Warrior, stood up and offered his fist. We bumped fists and he laughed.

"Y'know, you're pretty good for a newbie." Ocean Warrior said. "We should fight again sometime." And with that, he began to walk off. "Oh, and don't forget to make a wise choice with your Level-Up bonuses." After that, he disappeared in a stream of bluish data. Speaking of which, I got a screen telling me that I could level up at the cost of 300 Burst Points, along with the chance for a Level-Up bonus. I saw a list of things I could get, but had a hard time deciding. I eventually decided on a new Normal Move called 'Sword Dance', and chose to level up, leaving me with a decent 102 Burst Points. I can't even begin to express how happy I am that I did all that training. Since that was my fourth battle in a row, I decided to call it quits for the time being.

"Burst Out!" Once I logged off, I was back in my room, lying on my bed. Not only that, but I got some new mail from Megumi (in case you're wondering, we shared contacts just the other day to keep in contact in the case that anything urgent that was Brain Burst related came up).

'_**Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow? If not, then meet me in Shibuya around noon, there's a few things I want to talk to you about. How's your solo training going? Have you leveled up yet? Make sure to make good choices with your Level-Up bonus.'**_ Is what it read. I quickly replied telling her that I had just reached Level 2, and that I would meet her in Shibuya tomorrow. After that, I looked at the time, which was almost midnight, so I decided to get some sleep.

…

The next morning, after I woke up and got ready for the day, I decided to head out to meet Megumi. Shibuya was a good twenty minutes from where I live, so I ended up taking a train in order to get there quickly. After some time, I finally reached Shibuya, and as a result of looking around a bit, I found Megumi waiting outside a small café. She waved me over and we went inside, finding a place in a corner to sit. Megumi didn't really waste any time with producing the cable, but at this point, I knew her true reason for it, and simply hooked it to my Neurolinker.

'**So, what is it you wanted to talk about?'** I asked.

'**There's a few things, actually.'** Megumi replied. **'First, I kind of touched on this in the mail, but how's your training going? You said that you made it to Level 2.'**

'**Well, for the most part, it's going well.'** I replied. **'I just figured that this would be more effective than just fighting at school when you're there. This way I can get stronger a lot faster.'**

'**Yeah, I see what you mean.'** Megumi agreed. **'While it's good to train while I'm there in case you get in a pinch, it's also good to get used to fighting on your own in the case that I'm not around.'**

'**I may have only been training, but I feel like a lot has happened in the last two weeks since I got Brain Burst.'** I added. **'And it's all thanks to you, Takeba-san.' **I could actually feel my cheeks getting a bit warm with that last sentence. Megumi giggled mentally.

'**You know, you don't have to add an honorific to my name. Just call me Takeba.'** Megumi said.

'**R-right. Got it.'** I replied.

'**Now, the second reason I asked you to come here is because I want to ask you something.'** Megumi continued. **'I'd like to know if you'd be interested in forming a Legion with me.'**

'**What's a Legion?'** I asked.

'**Think of them as Guilds in other games.'** Megumi answered. **'Legions are a group of Burst Linkers united under a Legion Master, which, as you may have figured out, is the leader. I'd be the Legion Master, of course. And you'd be my second-in-command.'**

'**Second-in-command? Really?' **I asked in surprise.

'**Yeah. I already asked Lavender Striker about taking up that role, but she turned it down, surprisingly.'** Megumi replied. **'She did say that she'd join the Legion, though.'**

'**Is there anyone else in the Legion right now?'** I inquired.

'**No, so it would just be the three of us for now. But I'm hoping we can get some other Burst Linkers to join us after we've made an impression.' **Megumi answered. **'Of course, that's assuming that you'll accept my offer.'** Hmm… Actually, now that I think about it, that might be a good idea.

'**I'll do it.' **I replied.** 'I'll form a Legion with you, Takeba.' **Megumi smiled in response.

'**That's good to hear.'** Megumi said. **'Welcome to the next rising Legion… Chaos Destiny.'**

'**Chaos Destiny, huh?' **I wondered.

'**There's one more thing I wanted to talk to you about.'** Megumi added. **'I was wondering if you'd be up for a 'mission' of sorts.'**

'**Mission?'** I repeated. **'I don't think I get it.'**

'**Basically, I need you to do something for me. I can't since I'm the target.'** Megumi replied. **'There's a certain Burst Linker that's been going after me in the Accelerated World.'**

'**Really?'** I asked in surprise. **'Why's that?'**

'**I have a few theories, but the most likely is that I used to work with the Black King.'** Megumi answered while in thought.

'**Black King?'** I repeated. **'Is that another Burst Linker?'**

'**Oh, that's right. I never told you…' **Megumi said.** 'A few years back, there used to be seven players that all reached Level 9, the second-highest level in the game, around the same time. Each one leads their own Legion and represent a certain color; red, blue, green, yellow, purple, white, and black, which is why they're referred to as the Kings of Pure Color. But the Black King, Black Lotus rebelled against the other six after a truce was ordered amongst them. Black Lotus believed that the truce should have never happened, and attacked the Red King, known as Red Rider. After that, Black Lotus disappeared, and nobody's heard from her ever since.'** So the Black King was a girl? Well, I didn't expect that.

'**Why was there a truce?'** I asked.

'**After the Kings had reached Level 9, special death match rules were set in place to reach Level 10. A single loss of a duel would cause a Level 9 player to lose all their points on the spot.'** Megumi explained. **'Black Lotus wanted nothing to do with the truce, because she believed that the whole point of the game is to reach Level 10.'**

'**Wow…'** I replied.

'**And the thing is… I agree with her.'** Megumi said. **'I believe that the ultimate goal of Brain Burst is to reach Level 10. Which is why I fight in the first place; to make it to Level 10 and see what happens after that.'**

'**Well, that's how I see it too.'** I said. **'I think the point of Brain Burst is to get stronger by leveling up. And that's just what I wanna' do. I want to become stronger than I am.' **Once again, Megumi giggled. **'Hey, what's so funny? I'm being serious.'**

'**You sound like the protagonist of some anime.'** Megumi said. Well, okay, granted I did sound a lot like Goku just now…

'**Well, back to the main topic. You said that this person might be targeting you because you used to work under Black Lotus?'** I asked, redirecting things back on track.

'**Yeah, or at least that's the theory that makes most sense.'** Megumi replied. **'It has to be a student at our school that knows me somehow, since they've only challenged me there. I've managed to drive them back a few times, and completely avoid them at others, but I can't do that forever. So that's why I'm asking for your help, Kurosaki.'**

'**Are you sure I'm up for it?'** I asked.

'**You shouldn't have much to worry about. They're only a Level 4 Burst Linker, so the difference in strength shouldn't be too much.'** Megumi assured.

'**Do you at least know anything about them?**' I asked, hoping to be able to know what I was getting myself into.

'**I only know that their name is Citrine Viper, which implies that they're a Yellow Avatar.'** Megumi explained. **'Yellow Avatars are tricky because they don't fight directly, rather they use all sorts of tricks to beats their enemies.'**

'**It certainly sounds like they'd be tricky.'** I added.

'**Yeah, but I'm confident that you'll be able to beat Citrine Viper. You haven't given me a reason to doubt you so far.'** Megumi continued. **'So, are you in?'** I thought it over for a second before nodding my head.

'**Yeah, I'll give it a shot.'** I answered. I… I really hope I know what I'm doing. **'There's one problem though. I have no idea where to find this guy or what he looks like.'**

'**I can help with that. In case you haven't noticed, I have a bit of a… fan base, which would mean that locating Citrine Viper would be tough, obviously.'** Megumi replied. **'But I did a little… investigating, and I think I've narrowed it down to the right person.'** She pulled up a screen to show me with the face of a student at Umesato by the name of Ken Amano, a first-year from what the small profile said.

'**Hmm… Now that I think about it, I think I've seen this guy around occasionally.'** I said, recalling a few days ago when I passed by him.

'**Well, as long as you can locate him, I have confidence that you can beat him.'** Megumi added. After that, we just sat around for a few minutes and talked about normal stuff before we decided to head out. But once we got out the door, I noticed a shape quickly duck into a space between the café and the building next door. I immediately stopped and glanced that way, barely catching a view of what it was. Megumi then turned around to notice me doing this. "Kurosaki? Is something wrong?" I just have one thing to say; and that's how I'm glad I've watched a lot of action-based anime, since that's the only reason I was able to catch what just happened.

"Burst Link." I muttered. In that instant, Megumi and I both accelerated. I opened the matching list and saw a third name below ours…

Citrine Viper…

"Well, whadda' ya' know. You actually found me for once." A voice spoke up from my left, where I had seen the shape duck into the alleyway. Out of said alleyway stepped a boy a year or so younger than Megumi and I with dark brown hair that was a bit untidy like mine, green eyes, and he wore the uniform for the first-year boys. Just like the guy in the picture Megumi had shown me, this was Ken Amano, otherwise known as Citrine Viper. His virtual avatar looked kind of like a bodysuit with scale-like patterns on it, almost like reptilian skin. He also had some spikes on his shoulders and a bandanna tied around his head, while a pair of combat boots were on his feet. Well, that's definitely a unique avatar…

"We meet again, Citrine Viper." Megumi said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Y'know, I gotta' say, this guy you recruited definitely has an eye for things." Ken commented. "He's the first one to ever find me before I could get the drop on him. So, is he like your bodyguard or something?"

"What if I am?" I asked in return.

"Then I guess I have to get through you to get to your Guardian, that sound right?" Ken challenged. I smirked. "I thought so. Tell you what, I'll be nice and make you a deal. If I win, then I get to fight your Guardian, the Crimson Goddess."

"And if I happen to win?" I countered. "What then?"

"If you somehow pull that off, then I'll leave you alone and try to convince the Yellow King that you're not much of a threat." Ken replied.

"If you did that…" Megumi began.

"Yep, he'd leave you alone, and I'm assuming that's what you'd like." Ken finished. "So, we got a deal?"

"Yeah, you got yourself a deal." I replied, selecting our names from the match list. Immediately, the scenery changed around us until it resembled a more barren and desolate version of Tokyo. I recognized this as the World's End stage, which meant that this was an expansive area. Looking at my opponent, I noticed the appearance of his avatar.

He was metallic in appearance, like most other avatars, with skin that seemed almost scaly, with a cape on his back that looked kind of like the body of a snake, with shoulder guards that had snake-like eyes on them that glowed the same color as his real ones, which were also serpentine in appearance and bright blue. His head was also shaped like that of a snake, with all the features that came with it. Not only that, but much like his name suggested, his entire body was the same color as a piece of citrine. I noticed that Megumi had flinched slightly, which implied that she probably didn't like snakes that much.

"Alright, so I'm ready when you are." I said. It's a good thing that I had already drawn my weapons, because Ken didn't waste any time with charging forward and starting to assault me. I had no choice but to use my blades as shields to try and buy time to make a plan. Unfortunately, this guy's faster than I anticipated, so that complicates things. But at the same time, if I can somehow outmaneuver him, I might be able to get some solid hits in. I waited for the right time to strike and the second I found an opening, I swung my swords right in his direction, managing to get a good slice in. I quickly followed up with more attacks that damaged him bit by bit. However, he managed to do the same to me, but interestingly enough, he didn't attack me that much. Then, without warning he ran off into the city.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" I wondered aloud as I ran deeper into the city as well. I tried desperately to look for Ken, but with no luck. "Damn, so he knows how to be sneaky…"

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot to mention that part." Megumi spoke up.

…What?

"Y-You've got to be kidding me…" I facepalmed.

"Sorry." Megumi apologized again.

"No, no. It's fine." I replied. "Just…tell me what you know about this."

"Well, all I know is that he likes to use these kinds of tactics. He does it in the real world all the time to ambush me, and he does it here too, but I don't know why." Weird… Okay, let's think about this for a second. He attacked me for only a little bit, then he just ran off and hid. I took a look in the upper riught corner at his health bar and…

"Crap! That's what he's planning!" I said as the truth hit me like a brick to the face. "He was doing all that to- Agh!" Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a huge stinging pain in my shoulder. I turned around to find out that Ken was now gripping tightly onto my right shoulder, his hand glowing a sickly green. Once he took his hand off and jumped back to face me, I noticed that my shoulder was also glowing.

"So, what do you think of my Snake Bite?" Ken asked mockingly. "Once I touch someone with it, they're instantly poisoned. And once that happens, they'll keep losing health until they barely have any left." Although I knew Ken couldn't see it, I smirked. I then began to grunt, acting like the poison was actually hurting me.

"So… That was your plan all along? Build up your Special Move Gauge and then ambush me with that?" I asked.

"Yep, and I'd say it worked to…" Ken trailed off as he looked up, presumably at my health, only to notice that it wasn't dropping at all. "Huh!? What gives?" Once again, I smirked from underneath the guise of my Avatar. I glanced at Megumi from her perch point, and I could tell she had the same thought as me.

"You might want to study up on your metals, Amano." I said. "Or did you just not notice that my Avatar is named Lead Synergist? The key word being _lead_."

"L-Lead!?" Ken asked in surprise.

"Yep, and because lead is a precious metal, that gives Lead Synergist immunities to certain effects…like Poison." Megumi explained to our kohai **(1)**. Ken began to step back in alarm.

"W-Which means…" Ken trailed off, probably coming to the same conclusion we had.

"You wasted your Special Move. And now that I know what your main strategy is, I know how to properly plan ahead." I said as the greenish glow vanished from my shoulder. I then charged forward, surprising Ken. "Blitz!" As I called out my attack, I spun as I stopped right in front of the citrine-colored Avatar, creating a small whirlwind that knocked him back and damaged him slightly. Citrine Viper than stood up and rushed forward before attacking me with another assault of punches and kicks. Though I managed to block almost half of the attack string with my blades.

'_Great! Now all I need to do is worry about his speed. His Poison attacks can't hurt me, so I'm not concerned with that…'_ I leapt back and glanced at my Special Move Gauge, noticing that I had built up enough to use Brave Blade, but decided to wait a bit longer before doing so. I rushed forward again and started to attack relentlessly with my katanas, chipping off more and more health, and preventing Citrine from launching another attack on me for the most part.

'_Ugh, I forgot. This guy's Level 4, so it'll take a bit more to finish him than I thought…'_ I thought to myself. "Cross Slash!" As I called out my attack, I dashed right past Citrine with one of my katana held so the blade trailed behind me, and after getting a good slice in his waist, I jumped back towards my opponent, unsheathing my second katana from my back and bringing both down on him in a vertical slash.

"Snake Strike!" Ken suddenly called out. He lunged at me and managed to grab my arm. He then began to squeeze it more and more, beginning to apply pressure to it as his grip grew tighter. I began to wince from the pain, noticing that my health was starting to go down quite a bit. I managed to take my left katana and stab him in the stomach, allowing me to break free from his attack. I grabbed my arm in pain, my teeth grit as a result. Okay, it's just a little pain. I can still theoretically use this arm. I just hope I can endure it long enough for my plan to work. However, looking at my almost nonexistent health, I realized that I couldn't afford any mistakes. If Ken were to hit me with any of his attacks, it would more than likely be the end of me.

"Looks like I can finally try out that new move I got." I said as I tried to ignore the pain in my arm while I drew my swords out. "Sword Dance!" I instantly broke into a sprint towards Ken, and before he could dodge, I had reached him, and I was now gracefully maneuvering forward, forcing Ken to back up as I struck him with each graceful swing of my blades. Not only that, but with each hit I got to connect, Ken's health went down bit by bit until he was starting to get close to my health. I then leapt back a foot or so and prepared myself before calling out my Special Move. "Brave Blade!" As soon as I did, my katanas started to give off a brilliant white light. Once I was ready, I swung my twin weapons out in an 'X' pattern, sending Citrine flying back from the blow and getting rid of nearly all his health.

"And now… Power Slash!" I called out what would most likely be my final attack. I sheathed one of my katanas and ran forward at Citrine Viper, unleashing a single, strong slash across his chest, knocking him back onto the ground and depleting his health. With that, I was declared the winner, and Citrine got up off the ground.

"Heh. I've gotta' say, that was a pretty good fight there." Ken complimented. "I didn't really expect much out of you, but you showed me that I shouldn't underestimate my opponents.."

"Thanks, you too." I returned.

"Alright, well like I promised, I'll leave you guys alone and convince the Yellow King that you guys aren't a threat." Ken added.

"Hang on a second." Megumi cut in as she walked up to us. "Why were you after me to begin with? It's because I used to work under Black Lotus, right?" Ken nodded.

"Yeah, the Yellow King, or otherwise known as Yellow Radio, has been trying to get rid of anyone who might've known Black Lotus or worked under her before her disappearance. He thinks that those Burst Linkers might still be a threat somehow. He suspects that Black Lotus will eventually come out of hiding." Ken explained. So, this Yellow Radio is afraid of Black Lotus coming out of hiding, huh?

"Thanks for the info." I said.

"Anytime." Ken said. "Why don't you and I have a rematch sometime?"

"Sounds good, Amano." I said with a thumbs-up.

"And don't worry Sempai, like I said, I'll keep my end of the deal, so you don't have to worry about me anymore." Ken added as he disappeared.

"Well, I'm surprised that you were able to do that so well." Megumi complimented.

"Yeah, well it wasn't easy." I said as began to sheath my swords again. "I'm surprised myself tha-" I immediately froze the second my swords were sheathed. And the next second, I was on my knees clutching my arm in pain.

"Are you alright?" Megumi asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it's just that I can still feel the pain from that damn Snake Strike attack of his." I managed to get out in a strained voice. Oh Kami **(2), **that hurts!

"We should go ahead and log out then." Megumi suggested. I nodded in agreement and we both exited the Accelerated World. Once the world had returned to normal, I moved my arm around and was relieved to know it didn't hurt anymore.

"Well, I guess that settles things with you and Amano." I said.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me with that." Megumi replied. "I'll get into contact with Lavender again, then I'll let you know when our first Legion meeting will be." I nodded in understanding. After we said our goodbyes, we both walked in separate directions. I decided to just walk around a bit more before heading back. Suddenly, I noticed that the world had stopped again, which meant that I had Accelerated. As I pulled up the match list, I noticed a new name underneath mine. This meant that my opponent was someone named Amethyst Bullet. As I turned around to face the Burst Linker that would become my newest opponent, I can only say that I didn't expect to see the person that I did.

"Huh? You…?"

_**Alriiiiight! So, that that. Now, I guess in a way, I told a small 'half-truth', since this wasn't exactly what I had planned for the plot, but right now, this is technically the first story arc, and I actually did hint towards what happens once the plot kicks in for this section at one point in this chapter. If you wanna' know, you'll just have to look back.**_

_**Anyways! Don't forget to review, favorite, or follow if you're enjoying the story so far. And as mentioned last chapter, ideas for OC's are welcome, just follow the template provided in the last chapter.**_

_**(1) = A term used to denote one's underclassmen.**_

_**(2) = God.**_

_**So for now, I'll see you guys later!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 4 – Friend**

…

_**Alright, so welcome back to Accel World: Stage 0 everybody! If you recall last chapter, Yu had just finished his fight with Citrine Viper, only to be challenged again by a mysterious Burst Linker by the name of Amethyst Bullet. And what's more is that Yu seemed to recognize him. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc. I do, however, own the OC's that appear in this story.**_

_**Who is this mysterious person? And what exactly can his Duel Avatar do?**_

_**Find out… NOW!**_

"Well, I guess that settles things with you and Amano." I said.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me with that." Megumi replied. "I'll get into contact with Lavender again, then I'll let you know when our first Legion meeting will be." I nodded in understanding. After we said our goodbyes, we both walked in separate directions. I decided to just walk around a bit more before heading back. Suddenly, I noticed that the world had stopped again, which meant that I had Accelerated. As I pulled up the match list, I noticed a new name underneath mine. This meant that my opponent was someone named Amethyst Bullet. As I turned around to face the Burst Linker that would become my newest opponent, I can only say that I didn't expect to see the person that I did.

"Huh? You…?" I asked in surprise. Standing a few feet away from was, other than Megumi, one of the first people that I befriended at Umesato; Yusuke Mastui. I could tell he was just as surprised as I was, because he looked at me like I was looking at him.

"Whoa, Kurosaki? So you're a Burst Linker too, huh?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah, but I'm more surprised that you are too." I replied. "So, you wanna' keep going with the battle?"

"Totally! This is gonna' be great." Yusuke replied. "I wanna' see what you can do."

"Well then…" I said, my fighter's spirit starting to take hold. I chose our names from the matching list and in an instant; we were transported to the Sky Ruins stage from my first battle against Lavender Striker. Speaking of which, I noticed that she and Yusuke both had the trait of being Purple Avatars in common. While Lavender Striker had the appearance of a metallic archer, Yusuke had the appearance of a metallic gunman, his entire body made of an amethyst-colored metal, save for his eyes which emitted a yellow glow.

"Dude, I can't believe that you're a Metal-Type." Yusuke said, still acting friendly despite that we were about to become opponents. "I'm actually kind of jealous."

"Glad to see that you approve, Matsui." I replied. "Now, let's see what our skills are like against each other." Yusuke nodded, and the battle started, the timer having set to 1800 seconds. I, of course, didn't waste any time in gong on the offensive. I started with a Power Slash followed by a Cross Slash, allowing me to draw first blood. Yusuke, however, didn't seem fazed. He pulled out a pair of pistols from nowhere (don't you just love hammer space **(1)**?) and started firing at a pretty rapid rate for a pair of pistols (my guess was that these are modified to do so). I had a little trouble dodging some of the bullets, but was also surprised to find out that I could dodge bullets to begin with.

"Sonic Bullet!" Yusuke called out. He aimed one of his weapons at me and fired a single bullet that seemed to have a strange glow around it. Though by the sound of it, I had an idea of what it might do. But before I could concoct a plan, the projectile hit me dead on and in an instant; my ears were assaulted by a horrible screeching sound in my ears. The sheer pain drove me to my knees. Once the sound ceased, I tried to get up, but found that I couldn't.

'_A stunning effect…?'_ I wondered. This pretty much makes me a sitting duck until the effect wears off (if that's even possible).

"Triple Down!" Yusuke called out his next attack. He aimed both pistols at me and fired three bullets for each, making a total of six. Since I couldn't move, I was hit by three pairs of bullets one after the other, taking away three small chunks of my health. This also knocked me onto my back due to the force of the attack. Interestingly enough, after the attack, I was able to move again. I took this opportunity to leap up and get right down to business. I started to slice away at the bullets that Yusuke began to fire in response and soon enough, I had gotten right up in his face, starting my assault on him with my blades and chipping his health down bit by bit.

"Blitz!" I called out. My attack created the usual whirlwind that not only damaged Yusuke a good bit, but it also knocked him back. However, I didn't let that stop me, since I got right back in front of my opponent and began to barrage them once more. Though, I guess that this didn't stop Yusuke either, since he started countering my moves, using his pistols to block my strikes.

Then once I staggered back from one guard, Yusuke began to swing his pistols like a pair of tonfa (I figured that he'd try pistol-whipping). "Cross Slash!" Once I called out my next move, I dashed forward and past Yusuke while getting a good slice in his side, then I turned right around, leaped back towards him, and brought my second blade down on him before he could turn all the way around.

"Huh, not bad." Yusuke complimented. "But let's see if you can stand up to this! Torrent Shot!" Yusuke aimed both of his pistols at me and got ready to fire. I reacted quickly just as he pulled the trigger, deciding to use a little trick I'd picked up.

"Blitz!" I called out just as a continuous stream of bullets started flying my way. I managed to initiate my Blitz attack just in time, creating the usual whirlwind as I spun, but this time, the bullets going my way simply changed course ever so slightly so that they didn't touch me. Knowing I couldn't keep this up forever, though, I simply ceased the Blitz and instantly began dodging as best as I could (Though that's not exactly working in my favor).

'_Come on, Kurosaki, think! He has to have some sort of weakness!'_ I thought to myself. _'Remember what mom told you; there's an answer to everything!'_ As I continued to dodge and occasionally get hit, I closely studied Yusuke. _'Wait… I think I got it!'_ I quickly put my plan into action, breaking into a sprint towards Yusuke while still attempting to dodge gunfire. Once I got right in front of him, I swung my swords, knocking his weapons out of his hand. I then proceeded to kick the guns in opposite directions.

"Sword Dance!" I called out as I began to gracefully swing my katanas at Yusuke as if it were some graceful dance. All the while, bits of his health started to chip away with each hit. By the time I ended my attack, our health was almost equal, Yusuke having ever so slightly more health than I did. I leaped back in order to calculate my next move, coming to the conclusion that another Sword Dance or Brave Blade (which I could have used at any time, mind you) would finish him off. But at the same time, if Yusuke used his own Special Move, he might be able to finish me off too.

I decided to act quickly before that could happen. I dashed forward again at Yusuke, but just as I was about to attempt to hit him with my katanas, he dodged towards one of his guns, managing to get over to it and pick it up. What interested me was that he didn't try to go for the second one. All he did was aim the one pistol towards the sky and chuckle.

"Game over, Kurosaki." He said. "Shooting Star Shot!" Yusuke fired one bullet from his pistol skyward, and all fell silent. I looked up and almost instantly noticed a small twinkle from above. From behind the guise of my Duel Avatar, my eyes widened in realization.

I tried to dodge out of the way, but I failed to determine exactly how fast the bullet was, and ultimately paid the price for that. The bullet hit my dead on in the left shoulder just as I tried to move out of the way, causing me to clutch it in pain and fall to the ground. I looked as my health went straight to zero, signaling that Yusuke had won the match. I barely managed to get up despite the retaliation I got from my shoulder and walked towards Yusuke.

"Congrats, man." I said as I noticed that the attack had actually blown my left samurai-type shoulder guard completely apart. "I gotta' admit, you're one hell of a sharpshooter."

"Thanks, and you're a pretty good swordsman yourself." Yusuke said as I bumped his fist with my good arm. "Hell, I think we'd make a pretty cool team." I chuckled and nodded.

"So, what brought you to Shibuya?" I asked.

"I was just chilling when I happened to see you and Takeba-san walking out of the local café." Yusuke said as he nudged me with his elbow wearing what I can only imagine was a grin on his face. "So… What happened?"

"I'll tell you about it some other time." I said, an idea forming in my head. Yusuke groaned but eventually agreed to it. After tha5t, we both logged out and went our separate ways.

… …

Man, I HATE Mondays… I always feel like I'm half-dead in the morning, and I don't really get any of my energy until lunchtime. Anyways… As I walked to school, I saw Megumi walking towards me out of my peripheral. I stopped to wait for her and after that, we started back towards our destination.

"Morning." Megumi said brightly, something that I find impossible for anyone to do on a Monday morning.

"Morning…" I said with, needless to say, less energy than her. Megumi could obviously tell that I don't like Mondays, since she just continued without paying my lack of spirit any mind.

"I got in contact with Lavender again, and she and I agreed to have the three of us meet up in person this Saturday." The blond explained. "You mind if we meet up at your house?" Well, that certainly woke me up early.

"My house?" I asked. "Not that I have a problem with that, but what about yours?"

"My parents are usually home around the time I get back from school, and of course they don't work on Sundays. So it wouldn't exactly be ideal for a Legion meeting." Megumi answered. "And Lavender lives pretty far out, she says that she has to take two separate trains to get to school on time."

"Oh, I see." I reasoned. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be inconvenient if we met at my place. If anything, we'll have plenty of privacy there." Megumi nodded in response.

"Great, thanks. Lavender said to just give her the directions to the meeting place and she'd make her way there Saturday." she added.

"Got it, I'll mail you the address later tonight." I replied. After that, Megumi and I got to school and endured our classes for the day. And of course, we trained a bit in the Accel World during lunch, so that was a nice, well-deserved break from the hell that is Monday.

… … …

Well, before I knew it, a couple of days later, it was Saturday. And not only that, but thanks to a few really intense training sessions in the Accel World (after each of said training sessions I collapsed on my bed at night and became a corpse), I had managed to make it to Level 3, earning me a few interesting bonuses (and I won't say which one I got). The good news is, I was left with a good amount of Burst points at the end (like I said, those training sessions were SERIOUSLY intense and long).

Anyways, after school let out on Saturday, Megumi and I walked back towards my place for the meeting, which was scheduled for after school was over, according to Megumi. Once we got to my house, which was a big, but simple house, I unlocked the door and let Megumi in. We walked into the living room and sat in front of the small table in the center in front of a large TV.

"Wow, so this is what your house looks like?" Megumi asked in interest. "So, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents?"

"My mom's a detective that takes international cases, so she's not around all that often." I replied. "That's actually where she is now, off in America for this big case."

"It sounds like it can get lonely around here." Megumi added.

"Yeah, I guess. But on the bright side, I've learned how to help myself out because of it." I replied. "And of course, she sends me checks and stuff like that so I'll always have money."

"What about your dad?" Megumi asked. I froze, my hands starting to tremble slightly.

"My dad…" I began. "My dad… He died…a few years ago… Killed right in front of me by some masked gunman." Megumi covered her mouth with her hand.

"I… I'm sorry." Megumi apologized. "I didn't know…"

"It's fine. How could you have known?" I replied sadly. I tried to put on a smile for Megumi, but only managed a half-smile. A few seconds later, I heard a knock at the door. I got up to answer it and when I opened it up, I saw Yusuke on the other side. You see, I had asked Yusuke to come over earlier today for the Legion meeting, since I'd also asked him if he wanted to join the Legion. Surprisingly, he said yes, and agreed to come over. I led him to the living room where Megumi caught sight of him.

"Hm? Who's this?" Megumi asked.

"A friend of mine, and our classmate." I said as I gestured to the orange-haired boy. "This is Yusuke Matsui, a Burst Linker that goes by Amethyst Bullet. I asked him to come here today and even invited him to join the Legion."

"S'up." Yusuke greeted.

"And Yusuke, of course you know Megumi Takeba." I continued. "But what you probably didn't know is that she's a Burst Linker named Crimson Goddess." Yusuke nodded in response. The three of us sat down for a few minutes before I heard another knock at the door.

When I got up to answer it, I wasn't expecting to see who I saw on the other side of the doorway. Standing across from me was a girl a year younger than me with silvery white hair tied into a ponytail and teal eyes wearing the uniform for the first-year girls. She bowed as she introduced herself.

"Hello, my name is Minako Nakamura." she began. "Is this… Is this the Kurosaki residence?" Really? _This _is Lavender Striker? Not that I have a problem with it, but I'm just outright surprised. I mean, she looks so kind and innocent, and quite frankly, based on what I've seen of Lavender's personality, I really didn't think this would be her outside of the Accel World.

"Yeah, come on in." I said as I moved aside for her to come inside. She smiled and walked inside. After which I led her to the living room. "Everyone, this is Minako Nakamura, otherwise known as Lavender Striker in the Accelerated World."

"So, we finally meet face to face, Striker." Megumi commented. "Nice to meet you, Nakamura."

"Same here." Yusuke added.

"It's nice to meet you all too." Minako replied.

"Well, now that introductions are done, I'll go and fix up some tea for us all." I said. "I'll be back in a minute." The others nodded as I went into the kitchen and quickly prepared some tea for all of us. While I was waiting for the pot to heat the water, I took a look around the medium-sized kitchen.

It contained a small square wooden table in the corner with four chairs around it, a refrigerator on the opposite end of the room, a counter that was almost as long as the room itself riddled with various drawers and a stove-oven combo, and a small island in the middle of the kitchen that also contained a few stray drawers around it. The rest of the house was like this, not fancy but not necessarily ugly either, just sort of middle-class bordering on upper-class in the sense.

But it's like my mother always said 'it's not about how much of something you have, it's whether or not you're able to have it at all to begin with.' I moved in here a good number of years ago and at first, I wasn't sure what I thought about it precisely, but I've really grown to liking this place.

I heard the pot go off, signaling that the water was heated. I took out four cups from the cupboard and finished preparing the tea before pouring it and placing them on a medium-sized tray. I took the tray into the living room where the others were waiting patiently for me.

I placed the tray in the middle of the table in between all of us and said "Help yourselves if you're thirsty, there's plenty enough here for everyone." I sat down across from Megumi, with Yusuke and Minako on either side of me, as I took a cup of tea for myself. The others followed suit and took their own cup.

"Alright, I hereby welcome you all to the first meeting of the newest Legion in the Accel World, Chaos Destiny." Megumi said, trying to sound all official. Honestly, I wonder about you sometimes…

"So, it's just the four of us, huh?" Yusuke spoke up. Megumi nodded in response.

"Yeah, but with any luck, we can get more people to join as we become more well-known." She answered. "Now, as you all should know, the goal of this Legion is to pick up where Black Lotus left off. Meaning that our ultimate goal is to reach Level 10."

"Level 10, eh?" Minako wondered aloud. "Sounds exciting."

"Takeba, I think there's something that I should bring up that might be of interest." I spoke up. Great, now_ I'm_ starting to act like I'm on a board of directors or some crap…

"And what's that?" Megumi inquired.

"It's about the battle I had with Citrine Viper a few days ago." I replied. "Frankly, I'm not so sure about whether or not the Yellow King will actually back off just because Viper asked him to. He probably still thinks that you're a threat, Takeba. And now that he knows about me, he might even go after me for the same reason, since I'm allied with someone who was once allied with Black Lotus."

"I don't get it dude." Yusuke commented. "What are you getting at?"

"I agree." Minako added.

"What I'm getting at is the fact that right now, it's very possible that our main enemy is the Yellow Legion." I explained. Megumi nodded in understanding.

"Now that you mention it, I think you may be right." She said. "I'm surprised that you were able to figure that out on your own. Especially since we're all only junior high students."

"Being the son of a detective has its' perks, I guess." I replied with a shrug.

"Now I get it." Minako chimed in. "So you're saying that we should focus on challenging Yellow Radio?"

"In a sense, yes." I replied. "But, of course, we're not going to go right up to him and try to fight him, especially since none of us can really match the power of a Level 9 Burst Linker."

"Agreed. I think that we should just start challenging his Legion bit by bit until the King starts to see that we're going after him." Megumi added. "So, all in favor of making our secondary goal a challenge to the Yellow King?"

"I." the rest of us answered. Megumi nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled." Our Legion Master concluded. After that decision was made, we all decided to come up with a plan of action in regards to challenging the Yellow King. And once that was done, everyone decided to head home and meet up again tomorrow to do some group training. Once everyone but Megumi had left, I offered to walk her home, to which she agreed. It was starting to get dark out, so thesun was almost completely gone from the sky. As we walked along, it was a bit quiet, so I decided to break the ice.

"That was a pretty good meeting today, Takeba." I spoke up. "Especially since it was our first."

"Yeah, and it's a good thing that you were there." Megumi replied. "Your intelligence could really be useful to the group."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah, you could definitely be a good strategist." Megumi answered. After a few more minutes, we reached Megumi's house, where we parted ways for the time being. Once I got going again, I didn't manage to get very far at all before I Accelerated without my consent, the world around me turning blue.

"Jeez, can't I ever catch a break?" I groaned. I looked around for my opponent, only to see that the environment around me had changed to a large, mountainous area with a light mist covering it.

"Heh, looks like I found ya'!" said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a hulking figure whose exact appearance was hidden by the mist. "I was hoping to find your Guardian here, but you're the next best thing!"

"Who are you?" I asked. "Show yourself!"

"You'll find out soon enough." The figure chuckled as he said that. Then, suddenly, he lunged forward in order to attack.

_**Whaaaaaaattt!?**_

_**Cliffhangers!? In my domain!? BLASPHEME!**_

_**Seriously though, that's the chapter. So next time, we'll be seeing another battle against a mysterious Burst Linker. And there might even be a few surprises in there too. So, until next time! Don't forget to R&R.**_

_**(1) – A trope commonly seen and used in cartoons or games, where a character will pull out an object, regardless of what it is, or how logical, seemingly out of nowhere. In here, it makes sense, since the fights are taking place inside a game.**_

_**Master of The wild Card out!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 5 – Synergy**

…

_**Alright, so welcome back to Accel World: Stage 0, everybody! So like I said last time, this chapter will have a surprise or two in it. Not much else I can say without giving anything away, sooo…**_

_**Well, there is one thing I can say about this chapter. The new character introduced in here was created by . , so credit goes to him. Not only that, but in this chapter, we have… BACKGROUND MUSIC! If you're curious about some of the tracks I'll be bringing up here, you can find them pretty easily on YouTube.**_

_**ANYWAYS!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc. I do, however, own the OC's that appear in this story.**_

_**As I said last time…**_

_**Who is this mysterious person? And what exactly can his Duel Avatar do?**_

_**Find out… NOW!**_

"That was a pretty good meeting today, Takeba." I spoke up. "Especially since it was our first."

"Yeah, and it's a good thing that you were there." Megumi replied. "Your intelligence could really be useful to the group."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah, you could definitely be a good strategist." Megumi answered. After a few more minutes, we reached Megumi's house, where we parted ways for the time being. Once I got going again, I didn't manage to get very far at all before I Accelerated without my consent, the world around me turning blue.

"Jeez, can't I ever catch a break?" I groaned. I looked around for my opponent, only to see that the environment around me had changed to a large, mountainous area with a light mist covering it.

**(BGM – Unavoidable Battle (from the Persona 3 OST).)**

"Heh, looks like I found ya'!" said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a hulking figure whose exact appearance was hidden by the mist. "I was hoping to find your Guardian here, but you're the next best thing!"

"Who are you?" I asked. "Show yourself!"

"You'll find out soon enough." The figure chuckled as he said that. Then, suddenly, he lunged forward in order to attack. I barely managed to dodge out of the way as the figure brought his fist down on the solid ground where I just was.

As he moved into view, I got a better look at him. He was a hulking figure with glowing yellow eyes, easily ten feet tall, made out of rock with cracks running along his entire body. Within these cracks were what appeared to be streams of molten magma, almost like this guy was a living volcano. THIS is my opponent!?

"What the hell are you?" I asked.

"Alright, fine. If ya' wanna' know so much, then I'll tell you." The hulking figure said. "The name's Arashi Yamada. But in here, you can call me Basalt Wrecker. You can say that I'm the top fighter in the Yellow Legion, aside from the king himself, of course. I'm like his second-in-command."

'_So, he's already sending out the big guns…'_ I thought to myself. "I guess you already know who I am then. I'm Yu Kurosaki, otherwise known as Lead Synergist."

"So, ya' gonna' fight or what?" Wrecker asked. Well, looks like somebody's a bit grumpy. I nodded in response and the fight began. Wrecker didn't waste a second in getting on the offensive. He ran forward and started pounding away at me before I could make my own move. I did the best I could to block, which quickly became my best strategy. One thing I found out right away is that this guy is seriously strong, just one hit dealt more than a simple attack like that should. He just kept attack almost nonstop, driving me back a bit. I knocked him back a bit with a good Blitz and then leapt back to get even more distance between us.

'_Damn, this guy's strong…'_ I thought. _'His attacks deal more than I'd like, so it looks like I'll have to use that sooner than expected…'_ Wrecker wasn't making a move, rather he was just standing there looking at me, almost like he was taunting me.

"What's wrong? You decide to give up?" he mocked.

"Equip Enhanced Armament… Joruri Tengu!" I called out. As soon as I did, tendrils of light erupted from the ground around me and wrapped themselves around my torso. After a second or two, the light faded to reveal that a new, glimmering chestplate had taken the place of my normal torso armor. The armor itself had an elaborate look to it, like it once belonged to a legendary samurai. _'Good, now my defense will be higher. And at this point, I could use all the help I can get…'_

"Enhanced Armament, eh?" Wrecker commented. "Didn't expect ya' to have one of those."

"Power Slash!" I called out, I dashed forward and closed the gap between the two of us. With that, I unleashed a single, but powerful slash at Wrecker, making him stagger back and take some damage. Something else I found out is that this guy also has respectable defense, though it's not enough to be a problem. I just need to worry about his attack power.

"Molten Interior!" Wrecker called out. The magma that could be seen within the cracks on his body began to glow brighter, as if growing hotter. Suddenly, he closed the distance between us again and started to assault me. I had managed to get my guard up just in time, managing to survive his flurry of attacks. Is it just me, or is he getting faster? Faster… That's it!

"Blitz!" I called out, spinning as Wrecker had reared his arm back for a punch. The result was that Wrecker fell back, his combo interrupted. I also noticed that he took more damage than normal, though it wasn't significant. Looks like my theory was correct. Wrecker can increase his speed, but to gain something means to give something in return, which in this case, meant his defense. Wrecker ran forward again and I raised my katanas to guard, but I apparently made a miscalculation as Wrecker suddenly dashed behind me and landed a punch right in my back. I stumbled forward and before I could figure out what happened, Wrecker kept going.

"Fissure!" he called out. I turned around just in time to see him slam his fist into the ground, creating a large crack that shot towards me. Spikes made of stone could also be seen shooting up out of the fissure. The problem was, the attack was faster than I expected, and as a result, I got seriously damaged. The pain of it actually drove me to my knees for a second. "Guess what? I'm not done there!"

"What are you talking about?" I wondered aloud.

"I can use a few of my Special Moves." Wrecker replied with a hint of cockiness.

"A _few_ of them!?" I asked in shock. The rock giant nodded.

"Here's the first one! Ring of Fire!" Wrecker called out. Suddenly, the entire area began to shake like crazy. I looked around and noticed that more cracks were forming, though I was still unable to tell what exactly was going on. But I guess I didn't have to wait long, since massive spikes of rock shot up out of the ground around me. By the time I was able to register what was happening, I was surrounded by a massive stone circular wall that looked to be 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide. I tried to escape, but the rock seemed to be slippery.

"Epicenter!" Wrecker called out. I heard a slamming sound from the other side of the wall, and before I could even figure out what happened, Massive spikes of stone and spurts of magma shot through the ground around me. Being unable to dodge them, I was forced to take the damage, and it didn't help that I had a limited space anyways. I hesitantly looked at my health bar and gasped in shock when I saw my health, having been reduced to nearly nothing. I stumbled back in horror.

"D-Dammit!" I cursed. "I can hardly touch him! He's got me… I-I can't do anything…! I'm…!" I felt my legs growing weaker and fell to my knees, pounding my fist into the mountainous rock. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" I could feel my hands trembling now. "I-I can't believe that… I'm useless again…" I could start to feel the rest of my body growing gradually weaker. "Who am I kidding, I've always been good for only one thing… And that's my smarts… That's all I've ever had going for me! Those victories…they were all just luck on my part… If I can't defeat an opponent this strong…how can I be anything other than useless…?" Before I knew it, my vision started to change, making everything lose all its' color. Meanwhile, I had slumped onto the ground to the point where I was lying down, just having the urge to sleep. "What's…happening…?" As I started to lose my last ounce of strength, I thought I heard someone calling my name, and I could have sworn I saw a figure standing on top of the rock wall…

…

**(BGM Change – Border of Insanity (from the Persona 4 OST).)**

"Kurosaki! Kurosaki! Hey!" Megumi shouted down into the stone trap.

"It's no use." The voice of Basalt Wrecker chimed in. Megumi turned around to glare at him. "He's in Zero Fill, by the sound of it. Tch… Pathetic, if you ask me…"

"Z-Zero Fill…?" Megumi repeated in surprise. "Kurosaki…"

"Looks like all I have to do is just wait out the battle." Wrecker said with a laugh. "That was easier than I thought. Maybe the boss was wrong after all. If he gave up _that_ easily and lost his willpower, then maybe you guys aren't a threat."

"I don't think so!" Megumi suddenly spoke up. "Because you're fighting me now!" Wrecker paused his laughter at that, only to continue again at the thought of Megumi fighting.

"You gotta' be kidding me!" he said between laughs. "What could you possibly do?"

"Allow me to show you… Nova Kaiser!" Megumi replied. She aimed her arm at Wrecker, the palm facing the rock giant, and in an instant, a burst of energy came bursting out and barreling towards Wrecker, who gasped at the sudden attack, costing him an opportunity to dodge. The attack hit him dead-on, sending him flying back onto the ground. The blast itself had also caused a great deal of damage to the environment itself, the rocky area now containing a larger crater. Wrecker looked towards his health bar and noticed that he'd taken more damage than he'd expected. He began to get up, but didn't stand up fully, rather he just knelt down and placed his hands on the rocky surface of the crater.

"Power of Earth!" the rock Avatar called out. The ground below him began to glow yellow, that same light was being drawn into Wrecker's body through his arms. Megumi was only able to figure out what was going on after it was too late. Wrecker stood up and jumped out of the crater. "Fissure!" Once again, Wrecker slammed his fist into the ground, creating a fissure that shot forward at an incredible speed, spikes made of stone shooting up in the process as the attack hit Megumi before she could dodge. Megumi got up quickly, despite the pain she now felt.

"What was that!?" she demanded. "That was a healing ability, wasn't it!?" Wrecker simply chuckled and nodded.

"What do ya' expect? It's only common sense for us Elementals to be in touch with our element, right?" he replied. "That would include us being able to draw power from that element."

'_This is bad!'_ Megumi thought. _'He's back to full health, and from what I saw when he fought Kurosaki…'_ Suddenly, Wrecker leapt up and landed a punch on Megumi, sending her reeling backwards slightly.

"Obsidian Claws!" the rock Avatar called out, this time claws made out of obsidian sprouted from his fingertips. He then continued to unleash a furious combo on Megumi, leaving her unable to find an opening and counter. Megumi tried to hold in her screams as the claws on Wrecker's hands actually began to cut into her Avatar's skin. As each strike brought her closer and closer to defeat, Megumi could only hope that Yu would reawaken soon…

**… …**

**(BGM Change – Traumerei (from the Persona 4 OST).)**

'_Huh…?' I thought to myself. 'Where am I…?' I looked around, but I couldn't see anything, there was only a black void. 'Oh, that's right… My battle with Basalt Wrecker…' I tried to move, but I noticed that my movements were slower than usual. 'It's weird… I…I feel like I can't go on anymore…'_

'_Yu…' I heard a voice say._

'_Huh? Who's there?' I asked, looking around the void for any other source of life._

'_Yu…' the voice said again. Though this time, the voice was clearer, more distinct._

'_Wait, that voice… D-Dad?" I asked in realization._

'_Son… You can't give up yet.' My father's voice continued._

'_But I-I failed.' I replied. 'I couldn't do anything… just like…'_

'_Yu… It's not your fault.' My father said._

'_Yes it is! I could've done something! But I didn't, because I couldn't!' I replied, the pain from all those years ago returning. 'And because of that, mom and I lost you, and she's been trying to find the culprit ever since! I'm useless! I've never been good for anything except for my intelligence!' I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes. 'All these years, I've been beating myself up because I never did anything to stop that gunman… If I had…-' Suddenly, I felt an invisible hand slap me across the face. I reeled back a bit from the force and held my hand up to where my cheek and the hand had made contact._

'_Yu, you're wrong!' my father replied. 'It's true that you didn't do anything because you couldn't! But not for the reasons you think!'_

'_What do you mean?' I asked._

'_Son, there are some things in this world that are meant to happen. My death was one of them.' He explained. 'If it weren't for that, you wouldn't be where you are now.'_

'_But still… I've never had any real talents, I'm just…average.' I replied._

'_I know that you have plenty of potential, son.' My father said. 'You just have to believe that it's there. And besides, the Yu I know wouldn't just quit like that, he would get right back up and keep on fighting no matter what.' As embarrassing as it is, he's right. I've always had a thing about being persistent, which actually makes me wonder why I even gave up in the first place._

'_I… I guess you're right, dad.' I said hesitantly. 'But…how do I tap into this potential I have?'_

'_Heheh… you'll know how.' He replied with his signature chuckle. 'Just…don't let my death hold you back, because otherwise, you really will be average. Just believe that you can exceed your limits and I know that you can achieve great things…' And with that, there was silence._

'_As much as I hate to admit it… He's right.' I said with a sigh. 'All this time, I've been beating myself up over something that was holding me back… Tch, I should be ashamed of myself, giving up without a fight like that.' I felt strength returning to me as I thought about what my father had said. 'Exceed my limits, huh? I'll do it. I'll reach my peak and go beyond it. I'll do it to become stronger, to beat Basalt Wrecker. I'll do it for my father, and…' I felt even more strength welling up inside me as I balled my hands into tight fists. 'I'll do it for my friends! And of course, I'll do it for Takeba!' At that moment, everything around me was engulfed in a flash of light. The next thing I knew, I could hear small explosions and booms coming from all around me._

… … …

I opened my eyes and slowly stood up, recognizing the area I was in.

'_Someone's fighting?'_ I wondered. I listened hard for any voices, and within seconds, I heard one voice call out what sounded like an attack.

"Pulse Beam!" the voice called out. I immediately recognized it as Megumi's voice. That meant that Megumi was in trouble, if she was fighting Wrecker. I leapt into action, unsheathing my swords and charging at the wall with full intent on attacking. I initiated a Sword Dance and began to swing my blades with all my might at the wall, fully intent on breaking it.

**(BGM Change (I swear this is the last one) – Rua's Awakening (from the 3****rd**** Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's OST).)**

"Hang on Takeba, I'm coming!" I said as I tried with all my might to damage the structure. I noticed I was making progress, damage starting to become noticeable, but it wasn't enough. As I started to make my attacks more furious, I noticed a change throughout my body. I could feel a whole mess of sensations all at once. I could feel intense heat, chilling coldness, a lightness like being carried by the wind, and a jolt of power, all of these at once. I also noticed that my body was starting to glow brighter and brighter by the second. This light then began to fade as soon as it had appeared, this was when I saw a change in my appearance. The main difference was that there were now odd-looking diamond-shaped patterns on my forearms, forelegs, and chest, which had their own white glow.

I looked down at my katanas and saw that they were surrounded by what appeared to be greenish wind. I also noticed that the same wind was blowing around me. As I backed up in interest, I noticed that my movements were much more swift. An idea forming in my head, I looked straight up and did what I thought would be impossible; I made a leap straight up and out of the stone prison and landed on the other side, the aura still surrounding me. Wrecker and Megumi both looked at me in interest, though Wrecker might be more in shock.

"H-How the hell did you do that?!" he asked. "it looked like you flew!"

"I get it… So this is exceeding my limits, isn't it?" I muttered. "This is what you meant, right dad?"

"Kurosaki…?" Megumi asked.

"Takeba, I've finally figured it out." I said. "Why I'm Lead Synergist. Because with my power, I can improve myself, and do so many things because of that." I held out my swords and in an instant, the blades themselves were set ablaze. The others present gasped.

"W-What the-?!" Wrecker asked as I dashed right in front of him.

"Takeba, you've taken a beating, let me handle this guy for now." I said.

"Are you crazy? You'll get killed!" Megumi protested.

"I know what I'm doing, now take cover!" I said, turning my attention back to Wrecker. "Now, allow me to show you what I can do when I exceed my limits." I suddenly, unleashed a fierce combination of attacks on the rock giant. "With fire, I can become stronger!" I then knocked him back with a Blitz imbued with flames and in a split second, my katanas were surrounded by a greenish wind again. I then rocketed forward and gracefully swung my swords on my opponent once more. Though this time, Wrecker was ready, finding an opening and trying to attack me. However, I simply dodged to the side and slashed at his arm, all in one swift movement.

"With the wind, I'll be swifter!" I continued as my blades were now instead covered in frost. I performed a Cross Slash on Wrecker, getting his health down that much more. "With ice, I'll become cold and fierce!" And soon, the frost disappeared and in its' place was an electric aura. "And with electricity, I'll be lightning-quick!" I began to unleash yet another quick but powerful string of attacks on my opponent, giving him little to no opportunity to launch a counterattack. By this point, his health was almost gone. I leapt back and immediately moved forward again.

"Brave Blade!" As I called out my special move, the electric aura around my blades transformed into pure white light, like they always did. Wrecker had only just recovered, thus not having any time to react as I hit him directly with my attack, depleting his remaining health to zero. After which the rock gian disappeared in a stream of orange data. I walked over to Megumi, noticing that the diamond-shaped patterns had vanished.

"Kurosaki… What…was that?" the crimson Avatar asked.

"Looks like that was my hidden potential." I said, trying to understand it myself. "A Synergy ability. It seems like I can add an extra property to my attacks, like an elemental effect."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever heard of an ability like that." Megumi commented in interest. "But where did you learn that?"

"I just… I guess I always knew it, but I just needed the right situation." I replied with a shrug.

"Well, it certainly makes you unique." Megumi added.

"It was weird… I had this feeling the whole time like there was this great power inside of me the more I wanted to keep going." I said half to myself. Megumi picked up on this, by the look of it, and looked like she was thinking intently about something. After a minute, we both decided to log off and call it a day. When I got home, it was pretty late, so I decided to just rest up for tomorrow. I headed upstairs, but stopped halfway up as I passed by a picture on the wall of my parents and myself. I looked towards the framed photo and felt a twinge inside of me.

"Thanks…dad." I muttered before I finished my trek to my room and plopped down on my bed.

_**Sooo…**_

_**Yeah, there's chapter 5 for ya'. I'm going to be honest, I'm not 100% sure about what I think of this chapter myself. But hey, everyone has their doubts about something at one time or another *shrug*.**_

_**Anyways, not much for me to say, but I guess I should bring this up, I did update the character template for those of you who are interested in telling me about an idea for an OC you might have. So, here's the updated template:**_

_**Name:**_

_**Age:**_

_**Gender:**_

_**Physical Appearance: **_

_**Personality: **_

_**How they know about the Accel World: **_

_**How long they've had Brain Burst: **_

_**Duel Avatar Name: **_

_**Level: **_

_**Avatar Color/Type: **_

_**Trauma that created the Avatar: **_

_**Avatar Appearance: **_

_**Main Weapon: **_

_**Normal Moves:**_

_**Special Moves: **_

_**Enhanced Armaments (optional): **_

_**Special Ability(s) (optional): **_

_**Other than that, I guess that's it! So don't forget to R&R, and I'll see you guys later!**_

_**:D**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Accel World: Stage 0**

**Acceleration 6 – Silver and Lead**

…

_**And here we are again, with the newest chapter of Accel World: Stage 0. In this chapter, we're gonna see some pretty intense stuff, so get ready. And for the record, this story is now, in terms of the canon timeline, taking place in between the time when Haru (a.k.a Silver Crow) got his wings, and the appearance of the 5**__**th**__** Chrome Disaster. Just thought I should note that.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World. All credit goes to its' creators. Also, any places, people, things, or concepts that I may reference from other similar works of fiction or other fandoms entirely are coincidental, but nonetheless are credited to their original creators as well. This includes any real people, places, things, etc. I do, however, own the OC's that appear in this story.**_

I stood in a massive grassy field at twilight, staring down a pair of figures a few feet away, one was a greenish-colored heavily-armored warrior while the other was a dark blue, the shape of which was similar to that of a soldier, only mostly metallic in appearance, but both had yellow eyes. Next to me was Megumi, both of us, obviously, in our Dual Avatar forms.

"Heh, so you're our opponents?" asked the green-armored figure named Mint Tank. "You don't look so tough."

"I dunno', man. The one on the right is pretty high-leveled." Replied his friend (named Navy Ravager), noting Megumi's level (which is 7, for those of you who are wondering).

"Alright, I'll take Ravager, if you can handle Tank." I whispered to Megumi. The crimson Avatar nodded in response. As the battle started, Megumi and I leaped into action, splitting up to take on the opponents I had assigned, which was all part of my plan. I dashed towards Navy Ravager, unsheathing my blades as I prepared to strike. Ravager ran forward as well, trying to hit me with a flurry of punches and kicks. This alone gave me an idea of what his fighting style is, which helped me form a plan.

"Gigantic Fist!" my opponent called out as his fist began to glow with bluish-white energy. He then threw a quick but strong punch my way, but I managed to dodge and counter with a few good slashes with my swords.

"Sword Dance!" I called out. I began to unleash a combo of graceful sword swings on my opponent, bringing his health down with each hit. I then finished it with a small leap and twist while outstretching my blades at the same time, chipping away even more health from Ravager. The navy-colored Avatar then ran forward and managed to out-speed me, getting in a decent combo of punches and kicks.

The fight went like this for a minute or two before I decided to kick it into high gear. I leaped back, getting some distance between us. I then stood still and concentrated, my body starting to gain diamond-shaped patterns on it, the patterns themselves glowing white.

"Huh?" my opponent wondered.

"Now I'm fighting for real." I simply said as my swords were set ablaze out of nowhere. I dashed towards my target and readied my weapons. "Cross Slash!" I then began performing a normal Cross Slash, but this time around, there was an extra fire property added to it, causing a trail of flames to appear. The result was that my opponent lost a good bit of health (though the difference in our Levels also helped with that).

"N-No way!" Ravager stuttered. "Y-You're the guy I've been hearing rumors about!" I simply smirked at the comment from behind the guise of my Avatar. Then, with a simple thought, my blades were no longer on fire, rather a small stream of greenish wind now surrounded the blades and my body.

"Blitz!" I called out in response, initiating a normal Blitz, but this time the small whirlwind was a bit more intense, knocking Ravager back even further and taking out more of his health. I dashed forward and finished the job with a simple Power Slash augmented by my Synergy's wind property, reducing his health to zero. After that, he vanished in a stream of blue data. I then rushed over to where Megumi and Mint Tank were fighting and began to assist her in taking down the other Avatar, using my Synergy to buff my attacks with electric properties. Seeing that his ally was down and he was outnumbered (and probably realized who I was like Ravager had), Tank backed up.

"Alpha Blaster!" Megumi called out. On cue, her SP was cut in half and she fired a pretty destructive-looking blast that knocked out a good chunk of Tank's health. It also left him open for me to attack.

"Brave Blade!" I declared. I rushed forward and executed my Special Move, reducing the green Avatar's health to zero. After that, he vanished in a stream of green data. Once both enemies had been beaten, the diamond patterns on my body disappeared, signaling that my Synergy ability had deactivated. Once that happened, the world around us returned to normal, with us sitting together in the lunchroom at school.

"**Well, that's another one down."** I said through the Direct Wired Link. "**Now we're that much closer to taking down the Yellow King."**

"**Yeah, but we'll still have to get a lot stronger if we want to even think of fighting him."** Megumi replied.

"**Are Level 9 Burst Linkers really that powerful?"** I asked. Megumi nodded.

"**Definitely."** Megumi answered. **"I've even heard some crazy rumors that when you reach Level 10, it's almost like being a god. But of course, those are rumors. And besides, no one's ever reached Level 10 before."**

"**Huh."** I commented in thought. After that small conversation, we decided to finish our lunch and headed back to class.

…

The same afternoon, a short, chubby-looking boy with brown hair walked off the school grounds, headed home for the day.

"Hey." A voice spoke up from behind him. The boy turned around to see a girl a year older than him with long raven-colored hair, wearing the girls' second-year uniform, walking towards him, with a look of contemplation on her face.

"Sempai? What's up?" The boy asked. "Is something bothering you?" The raven-haired girl nodded once as the pair then continued walking together.

"You could say that." The girl replied. "Lately there have been some rumors going around that I can't help but wonder about."

"You mean in the Accelerated World?" the boy inquired, to which his friend nodded.

"I've been hearing a lot about a certain Burst Linker that popped up recently." She explained. "Rumors about them are spreading like wildfire."

"What kind of rumors?" the boy wondered.

"Things about how powerful he is." His companion answered. "I've only managed to gather a few bits of information on him."

"Do you think he's working with one of the other Kings?"

"Hard to say. But what I do know is useful, yet limited." She added. "The first thing I've heard is that he's only Level 4, so he only recently obtained Brain Burst. Something else I managed to gather over the past few days is that he has some sort of special ability that makes him unique, much like your wings."

"What else?" the boy asked out of curiosity.

"The only other thing I know about them is the name of their Avatar." The girl answered. "And that would be… Lead Synergist."

… …

I stood outside the school gates one Saturday afternoon, getting ready to head home. However, something was gnawing at the back of my head; which was something that Megumi had mentioned at our last Legion meeting…

_**(Flashback…)**_

_Megumi and I stood up from the table in my living room, the others having left after our second meeting as Chaos Destiny._

"_Well, so far, our progress is good." I commented as we walked towards the front door. "If anything, people are starting to notice us."_

"_Yeah, and since the comeback of Black Lotus happened not long after we formed the Legion, that also helped us out." Megumi replied. As we got to the door and Megumi put her shoes on in exchange for the guest slippers, she turned around and looked at me, looking more serious than she was a few minutes ago, yet somehow still retaining her casual attitude._

"_Hm? Something wrong?" I wondered._

"_No, it's just…" Megumi trailed off. "I think you should be cautious of Kuroyukihime."_

"_Huh? I don't get it." I replied, my interest piqued._

"_Let's just say that there's more to her than meets the eye." Megumi said, immediately shifting back to her cheery, casual self before walking out the door and closing it behind her. I sighed in defeat._

"_Sometimes I wonder about her…" I mumbled._

_**(Flashback End…)**_

'_Kuroyukihime… What could the most popular girl in school be hiding…?'_ I thought to myself. _'Let's go over my clues here… Kuroyukihime is the most popular girl in school, very well-liked among the students… Nothing out of the ordinary there, but lately…'_ I stopped as something started to 'ding' in the back of my head. _'She started hanging out with that first-year all the sudden. What was his name…Arita? Those two have been hanging around a lot lately, but I can tell from an occasional glance that they're not dating, rather just acquaintances.'_

That was when things started coming together._ 'It's…almost like Takeba and I! But that would mean…' _Suddenly, I noticed two people walking in my general direction. As I looked closer, my eyes widened slightly when I realized who one of them was. _'Is it possible that… There's no other way. I have to bet on the slim chance that I'm right. Even with my type of analytical ability, I can't come to a conclusion without an experiment…'_ As the pair was about to pass me, I made my decision, and moved my lips to pronounce my next two words, quietly, but loud enough for the two of them to hear. And I swear, I thought I saw one of the two glance at me as I did so.

"Burst Link…"

In an instant, the world froze and everything around me turned blue. I opened up the matching list and saw a grand total of three names…

Lead Synergist, Silver Crow, and… Black Lotus.

**(BGM – Seeker of Truth (from Persona 4 Arena).)**

'_Check and mate._' I thought to myself with a smirk on my face. I acted quickly and challenged Silver Crow, not being nearly stupid enough to challenge Lotus, who was a Level 9 Burst Linker. Right away, the environment changed, until I was standing on a rooftop overlooking a city. "The Urban Jungle stage, eh?"

As I surveyed the area, I noticed that staring me down a few buildings away, were two Duel Avatars. One was metallic and jet-black with blades in place of arms and legs, a purple visor covering the face, and two purple eyes shining through this visor. I also noticed that the Black avatar hovered an inch or so off the ground, due to her legs being made of blades. This Avatar, I assumed, was Black Lotus herself. Standing next to her was a silver-colored Avatar with a basic humanoid shape, with a silver helmet on his head complete with a green visor. This one obviously had to be Silver Crow, which, in many ways, surprised me.

'_That's Silver Crow?'_ I wondered. _'It's interesting, in the real world, he's the exact opposite of what I'm looking at right now.'_ Then, memories of the rumors of Silver Crow began playing back in my head. I chuckled at this. _'So… I'm going to be fighting the famous flying Avatar, huh? This should be fun…'_

I was the one to take initiative, running forward and leaping to the next building. I unsheathed my weapons and began to make my approach towards Crow, assuming that Lotus was now spectating. Crow reacted a second later, jumping forward in an attempt to get closer to me.

'_Alright, let's see here…'_ I thought, starting to make a strategy. _'Crow's a Metal-Type like me, and on top of that, he's silver. So that means he's immune to Poison properties, but…'_ A smirk appeared on my face. _'He's weak against Electric moves. And he should be a decent physical attacker._' I then got into action, swinging my swords at Crow as we both landed on the same building. But unfortunately, Crow dodged out of the way easily. He then followed up with a few punches and a kick that I reeled back from slightly.

'_Crap, he's fast!'_ I realized. _'This puts a damper on things. If he's that quick, then hitting him will be a challenge.'_ I tried again, this time succeeding in getting a string of hits on him. Crow then jumped back to get some distance.

"Who are you?" Crow asked.

"I figured you'd know. I'm Lead Synergist." I replied. "I was looking for a good fight, and what do you know, I came across you and Black Lotus."

"So, are you trying to get to Black Lotus? Are you working with one of the other Kings?" Crow pressed. I chuckled.

"Yes, and no." I answered. "To be honest, it was only luck that I found the two of you. But I guess you could also say that I got a tip from my Legion Master, who may or may not know you, Lotus." I figured that reply would get Kuroyukihime thinking, and it looks like it worked. I then charged forward without warning and got another string of attacks on Crow, but he managed to out-speed me again and counterattacked. By this point, Crow and I were evenly matched, but I had the feeling that when one of us used our special abilities, the tables would turn.

'_Looks like for now, it's my power against his speed."_ I thought to myself.

"Sword Dance!" I called out. Instantly, I got into action, closing the gap between me and Crow, and then unleashing a combo on him with graceful sword strikes. Once I ended my move, Crow began counterattacking again, with me barely managing to keep up with him. This clash kept going for another minute or so before we both leaped back from each other.

**(BGM Change – Silver Wing)**

"Okay, that's it! I'm going all out!" Crow said as I heard the sound of metal panels moving. Before I knew it, a pair of metallic wings had sprouted on Crow's back.

'_So, this is the Aviation ability…?'_ I admired, taking in the majestic silver wings.

Crow then shot skyward, quickly gaining altitude and flitting about, as if to taunt me. Even though it wasn't physically visible, I could tell that Crow was growing more confident. He then swooped down, as if to dive-bomb me. I smirked from behind the guise of my Avatar and waited. Just as he got within striking distance of me…

"Falcon Counter!" I called out. I took my blades and quickly put them into a back-handed grip, leaping up and slashing vertically, hitting Crow at the same time. This caused him to lose his momentum and fall back through the air. I then acted quickly, returning my blades into their normal position and bringing them down on my adversary again, forcing him to fall to the ground. I landed on my feet and chuckled, noticing that had taken a good bit off of Crow's health, but still left him with most of it.

"W-What?" Crow asked as he slowly got up. "What was that?"

"You like?" I asked with a chuckle. "It's a new move of mine called Falcon Counter. Normally, it's just a normal aerial technique that I can use to launch an opponent upwards and then toss them down, but I can also use it on already-airborne targets for extra effectiveness. I just recently got it after getting to Level 4. Honestly, I didn't think that I'd need to use it in this fight."

"How interesting, I didn't expect you to be this powerful, Synergist." Lotus commented as she approached the immediate battlefield. "Speaking of which, I'm curious as to why that's the name of your Avatar."

"Is that so?" I returned, already making my decision. "Well, in that case… I think I'll stop holding back as well…" I got into a stance like you'd see in the _Dragon Ball Z_ anime, my body starting to faintly glow. After a few seconds, my body had gained its' signature glowing diamond-shaped patterns. Lotus looked confused by this, but I soon cleared that up when my blades were now covered in a layer of bluish ice.

"Incredible…" Lotus commented. I charged forward and began to assault Crow with my frozen blades, but he managed to rise into the air again with his silver wings. An idea forming in my head, the frozen layer on my katanas melted away, and in its' place was a small current of greenish wind that flowed around the blades. Crow tried dive-bombing me again, but just like last time, I was ready. I initiated Falcon Counter again, this time though, it was augmented with an additional gust of wind that knocked Crow back further, and down harder. However, this didn't seem to deter him as he simply flew back up. I used a clever trick I'd learned (which involves using the wind from Synergy to give myself a temporary jumping boost by swinging my swords downwards) to leap after the silver Avatar.

"Power Slash!" I called out as my most basic move hit Crow and sent him spiraling back as he grunted in pain. I landed as Crow tried swooping down again. I leapt back, but the attack still managed to graze me, taking a small chip off my health. I used my jump boost trick again to try and get another decent attack in on my opponent, infusing my katanas with sparks of lightning in the process. But he just blocked it with the bracers on his arms. Though the electricity still damaged him slightly.

We soon entered into another clash like earlier, both of us trading blow after blow. It eventually got to the point where we both had small amounts of health left. If either of us hit the other with a Special Move, it would be over. Crow then did the unexpected and landed, though I knew that it couldn't be good.

"Alright, that's it! Now I'm ending this!" Crow said as he got into a battle stance and crossed his arms around his chest. Then, I noticed a neck brace appear and energy began to focus into his faceplate. I looked at his Special Move Gauge and saw it drop straight to nothing.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled. "Brave Blade!" I quickly readied my Special Move, my swords gaining a dim golden aura. I crossed them and then charged forward a split second before my opponent did the same. Both of us shot at the other, and the next thing I knew…

Both of our attacks made contact with each other, Crow head-butting my chest right as I unleashed a powerful slash with my blades. The resulting clash drove us both back onto the ground, forcing our health to reach zero at the same time.

**(BGM End)**

"It was…a draw?" Lotus asked in surprise. Crow and I both laid on the ground, staring at the sky in dead silence. Then, as if to break the silence, I began to laugh. Quietly at first, but then gradually getting louder, despite the pain in my chest from the Headbutt.

"What's so funny?" Crow asked as he slowly got up.

I slowly regained myself and got up as well, still chuckling in the process. "That was one of the best fights I've ever had so far. I have to admit, I thought you had me there for a second." As I managed to stop laughing, the world around us transformed back to its' normal state. I was now standing in front of Kuroyukihime and a small, chubby-looking first-year student.

"I must say that I'm impressed." Kuroyukihime complimented. "I had no idea that someone as strong as you existed in the Accelerated World."

"Yeah, I was a little surprised too." Crow's real-life self added.

"So, you have a name?" I asked the first-year.

"Oh, right. Haruyuki Arita." He replied, introducing himself.

"Right, nice to meet you, Arita." I replied. "And the same goes to you, Kuroyukihime. This is the first time I've met you properly. My real name's Yu Kurosaki."

"So, I assume this means that you're not our enemy?" Kuroyukihime asked.

I nodded. "Just the opposite, actually." I answered. "My Legion is actually in support of you, or rather Black Lotus. So I'm anything but your enemy."

"He's right."

I turned around to see Megumi walking towards us. "Huh? Takeba?" I wondered.

"I was nearby when you Accelerated, so I did too and watched the fight you just had." Megumi explained. Well… she's certainly sneaky, I'll give her that. "And I'd like to start by congratulating you. And also…" Megumi then glanced towards the raven-haired beauty to her left. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Huh? You two know each other?" Haruyuki and I asked at the same time.

"Yeah, we were pretty close friends when we were kids." Kuroyukihime replied. "But Takeba moved away, and I guess she came back later."

"We also found out about each other on Brain Burst, but that's another story for some other time." Megumi added. "So, now that you've come back out of hiding, you wanna' go back to the old days? Fighting side by side?" Kuroyukihime thought this over for a second and then nodded.

"Yeah, I think that would be good." She answered. "And besides, if your protégé is that strong, then he'd make a good ally." Megumi giggled.

"Yeah, he's definitely something." She added. I'm right here, you know. Anyways, we all agreed on an alliance between Chaos Destiny and the Black Legion, Nega Nebulas. After that, Megumi and I walked off in one direction while Kuroyukihime and Haruyuki did the same. After a few minutes of walking, I decided to ask Megumi something that was gnawing at the back of my head.

"Hey, Takeba." I began. "You were trying to get me to meet Kuroyukihime and challenge her to a Duel, weren't you?" Megumi looked shocked that I had just gone right out and asked her something like that, almost like accusing her of a crime, but then she just smiled.

"I had a feeling that you'd figure it out." Megumi said.

"To be honest, it didn't make sense to me at first why you'd warn me about her. But after a while, the real reason behind it clicked in my head." I replied. "But then again, I guessed that you also knew I wasn't dumb enough to challenge someone as strong as her, which is why I challenged Silver Crow instead." Megumi giggled again, which is just too adorable to get tired of.

"You really are the son of a detective." She said as we reached our splitting point. After we said our goodbyes, we each went our separate ways for the time being, though not before Megumi said that she would be showing me something tomorrow. After I got home, ate dinner, and studied for a bit, I decided to get to bed and get some well-deserved rest after my most challenging battle to date.


End file.
